What's in a name…

"Oh, but if it isn't Kagami!" Takao called loudly upon entering Magi Burger and spotting the tall Seirin ace sitting by the window in a surprisingly empty table. The red-headed boy was infamous for his stomach's capacity, so it was quite puzzling to find him sitting idle in a restaurant instead of glomping down a mountain of food.

Kagami flinched and scowled upon noticing Takao's presence, but the Point Guard was not only unaffected by it, but even dared to sit at the same table. Compared to Shin-chan's, Kagami's glare was but a novice's when it came to intimidation.

"You waiting for someone?" he ventured, noticing the Seirin player's nervousness and fidgeting.

Kagami blushed at the question and Takao giggled. He was so transparent it was almost cute. "I'm supposed to meet Kuroko later." He replied ambiguously, as if Takao couldn't figure out the rest by himself.

"Great! I have a date with Shin-chan later too, so we can just keep other company in the meantime, right?"

Kagami seemed to jump out of his seat when he mentioned the word 'date'. Takao giggled again. Did he really think it was still a secret? It didn't take a genius to figure out what kind of relationship Kagami had with his shadow; and the fact that everyone and their mother saw them kissing during the Winter Cup didn't help one bit.

There was a short moment of awkward silence. Takao prayed for Shin-chan to arrive soon, Kagami's fidgeting was proving quite annoying.

"So you and… you and Midorima… you guys're like… going out? Like… a c-couple?"

The Hawk Eye quirked an eyebrow in amusement. He didn't know about it? Although Shin-chan had kind of hoped it would remain a secret from everyone else, it took less than a week since they'd started dating for everyone to know about it. Not like they'd been trying particularly hard to keep it otherwise, mind you, but it had still pissed Midorima off when Kise called to congratulate him or something like that. He thought it was really weird that Kagami didn't know, especially considering how close he was to Kuroko, who'd been one of the first ones to figure it out.

"Well duh. Even for a tsundere like Shin-chan, it didn't take long to have him fall for my charms." He winked an eye playfully causing Kagami to look away in embarrassment. Another awkward silence befell them and Takao started wondering just how green Kagami could be with this subject and how someone as deceptively precocious as Kuroko could deal with him. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to sit here, Kagami was way too stiff and self-conscious to make an interesting conversation partner.

In spite of that, it was Kagami who broke the silence once again. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

Takao's interest was momentarily peaked. Was he going to ask for dating advice? He could definitely use some, judging by how generally ignorant he seemed on the topic. "Sure. Shoot.". He couldn't help thinking how that would make a great pun if it were directed at Shin-chan, and he grinned thinking how much it would piss Shuutoku's ace to hear it. He'd have to make a mental note to use it later.

"It's hard to explain but you should get it, right? I mean… those guys from Teikou… they're kind of weird aren't they?"

'Weird' was an understatement, and Takao of all people knew just how 'weird' things could go with a Teikou miracle. After all, he was in charge of getting Midorima's lucky item every single day, and that usually involved running through half of the city to find some obscure and never heard-of article.

"Well yeah, so?"

Kagami scratched his chin. "I mean, you're dating one of them so… doesn't it bother you? That they all have this like… really weird relationship? Like… they all hate each other but they're also sort of friends or something? I just don't get it."

The red-head's rendition of his thoughts was rudimental at best, but Takao couldn't say he didn't understand what he was saying or relate to his feelings in one way or another. It was pretty weird. "Yeah I… I get what you're saying, I guess. Like Shin-chan. He always says Kuroko's basketball style is terrible, but he's always kind of worrying about him, like he respects him or something."

Kagami seemed dissatisfied with his answer and chewed on his lip briefly before replying. "I was thinking more like… Aomine, y'know? First he's a total asshole and then he goes and fist-bumps with Kuroko…" he looked away, his face growing redder with every word, although Takao couldn't tell if it was embarrassment or anger. "And he calls'im fucking 'Tetsu' of all things… I mean, that's so messed up, isn't it?"

Oh. Now he got it. "It is messed up." He replied automatically, feeling the heat going up to his head. "What's up with that anyway? I mean, what the hell's wrong with those guys, using cute pet names with each other? 'Midochin', 'Midorimacchi'… the fuck's up with that?!" So maybe this was a little bit of a sensitive topic for him. It wasn't his fault. How was he supposed to stay put when all those Teikou weirdos were calling his Shin-chan with stupid names?

"Don't you have it easier, though? You have your own 'cute pet-name' for Midorima, right?"

Takao pushed himself back defensively. Was Kagami betraying him now, after he'd thought he'd found a confident to share his woes? That was too mean. "I-i-it's different! If it's so easy, why don't you give Kuroko a cute name too?!"

Kagami slammed his fist on the table. "As if I could do that!" he bit his lip again and glanced sideways. "It's just… 'Tetsu' just suits him so well" he buried his face on the wooden surface of the table, clearly disheartened. "And if I call him 'Tetsu' that's just like copying Aomine! No way in hell am I going to copy that idiot, it'd be so lame!" From that position, Takao could see the blush had crept all the way to Kagami's ears, and they were starting to blend in with his hair. "It's so frustrating! Why couldn't I think of that nickname before? That bastard Aomine…" Kagami huffed in frustration and straightened his back again, revealing the deep frown on his face. "I can't call'im 'Tetsuya' either. Fucking Akashi got that one first."

That hit a nerve. "I know right?! What the fuck is wrong with that guy anyway? Like, I don't get how Shin-chan can put up with his 'holier-than-thou' trash. He's so full of it, I swear… A-and he calls him 'Shintarou' like it's nothing! And Shin-chan just lets him do it! I hate him so much!" the fact that Akashi had crushed the team-play he and Shin-chan had developed just made the whole thing so much worse. He sometimes wished he could "accidentally" give that little cunt a black eye or two like he deserved.

Kagami quirked an eyebrow. "I didn't think that'd bother a guy like you. Midorima doesn't even seem annoyed when you call him with that stupid nickname, what's the problem then?"

How dare Kagami say 'Shin-chan' was a stupid name. He was so going to kill him whenever he got the chance. "You don't get it at all!" he yelled furiously. He had been a fool to think Bakagami would understand; that he'd have any idea of how important Shin-chan's name was.

"W-when Shin-chan and I… when we're…" maybe this wasn't something he should discuss in a public place with a guy he didn't really know outside of the basketball court, but he was a little bit too angry to think twice about it. "When we're together… like… in private, you know?" This was so embarrassing. "When we're like… that… h-he calls me K-kazunari… and I call him S-shintarou… and it's really special, ok?" Great, now he was a love-sick twelve-year-old girl. Why'd he brought this up, to begin with? Oh yeah, Akashi. "But now, when I do it I just… I think of his stupid face and it pisses me off!" he slammed his head on the table, like Kagami had done earlier. Shin-chan was going to kill him if he ever knew he'd talked about this, with Kagami of all people.

Seirin's ace grunted. "Yeah… now that you say it… I think I know what you mean."

Takao looked up and found Kagami still looking pretty pissed off but not so close to blowing off like a short-fuse bomb.

"It's all those Teikou weirdos' fault."

"Yeah, it's all their fault. I hate them."

"Me too. Screw them."

"Yeah."

"Did you hear that, Midorima-kun? Maybe we should just leave."

A chill crept up the two boys' backs

"It seems that just this one time we can agree on something. I have much more important matters to tend to, anyway."

Oh shit.

Needless to say, neither of them got any in the next week or so.

End

I've been toying with this idea for a while but I've just never known how to finish it, so I apologize for the abrupt ending. I had a whole more page written, but then I realized it was terrible and decided to kill it. Don't have much to say, tbh. Hope you like it. I imagine Takao and Kagami could eventually become good friends if only because of their shared woes or something like that. I just wanted something stupid, funny and just a little bit cute. I'm sorry if it's a little OOC. I'm currently writing a short AoKise thingy but I'm a little stuck with it, so this was just a distraction.